Car-fender.



J. A. DEVITT.

GAR FENDER.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 25, 1911.

Patented Dec. 19, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVENTOH WITNESSES ATTORNEYS will-BIA PLANOGIAPM CD., WASILINIITON. I). C.

J. A. DEVITT.

GAR FENDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25, 1911.

Patented Dec. 19,1911.

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JOSEPH A. DEVITT, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

GAR-FENDER.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, JOSEPH A. Dnvrr'r, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Car-Fender, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of an improved car-fender in which the scoop is released and drops down upon the track as the device strikes the obstruction, whether person or object.

It further consists of improved means for retaining the person or object caught in the scoop to prevent the same from again rolling off from the fender.

It further consists of improved means for holding the scoop against the track after it has once been dropped.

It further consists of improved means for simultaneously dropping the scoop, setting the brakes and applying sand to the track.

It further consists of other novel features of construction, all as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention, I have shown in the accompanying drawing one form thereof which is at present preferred by me, since the same has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which my invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that my invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of these instrumentalities as herein shown and described.

Figure 1 represents a perspective view of my improved car-fender applied to the front end of a street car. Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal vertical section of the fender. Fig. 3 represents a top plan view of the fender with a part of the net of the scoop broken away and removed, and a portion of the running gear of the car indicated in dotted lines and parts of the braking and sanding mechanism diagrammatically indicated.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the figures.

Referring to the drawings, the scoop of the fender is illustrated as composed of two arms, 1, having pintles, 2, at their inner ends journaled in eyes or bearings, 3, beneath the platform of the car, connected at their forward ends by a cross-bar, 4, and

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 25, 1911.

Patented Dec. 19, 1911.

Serial No. 629,277.

covered by a net, 5, which is upwardly extended and secured to the dashboard or front of the car. Ratchet segments, 6, are formed at the inner ends of the lateral arms of the scoop and are engaged by pawls, 7 pivoted upon the car-body or platform, so that the scoop will be held down, against the track, after it has been dropped, and rollers, 8, are journaled at the forward ends of the arms to travel on the rails of the track. A guard, 9, is hinged or pivoted upon the cross-bar of the scoop to be capable of being tilted backward, being held against forward tilting by a stop, 10 upon the front edge of the scoop, and being returned and retained in upright position by springs, 11, preferably in the form of elastic bands.

A plate, 12, is hinged at about its middle at the front edge of the platform of the car and beneath the same to bear with its rear edge against the under side of the platform, and is formed at the forward ends of its side edges with guides, 13, having rollers, 14, journaled within them upon which rollers two-side rods, 15, of a trip-frame slide. Said frame has a transverse trip-bar, 16, connecting the forward ends of the side-rods and projecting in front of the cross-bar of the scoop. The side-rods of the trip-frame have rollers, 17 journaled in cars, 18, near the rear ends of the rods, and said rollers engage under tongues, 19, upon the arms of the scoop, near the rear ends of the same, so that said arms may be supported upon the rollers to normally hold the scoop raised from the track, while inward movement of the trip-frame, by the latter striking an obstruction, will cause the rollers to slip away from under the tongues so as to allow the scoop to drop. Stop-fingers, 20, to the rear of the rollers, prevent the trip-frame from moving forward, and lugs, 21, upon the siderods prevent the trip-frame from being pushed too far rearward. Two rods or arms, 22 and 23, are secured to one of the side-rods of the trip-frame and are respectively connected to a valve, 2 1, of an airbrake and to a valve, 25, controlling a sanding apparatus.

hen the car is running, the fender scoop is supported raised from the track by the tongues upon the arms of the scoop resting upon the rollers of the trip-frame, and if a person or object is on the track, the trip-bar will strike the same, pushing the frame rearward to remove the rollers from the tongues upon the scoop-arms and to thus permit the scoop to drop, allowing the person or object to roll up on or into the net of the scoop. The person or object will tilt the guard 9 and will roll into the net to be retained therein and prevented from rolling off by the guard again tilting upward. The scoop now travels upon the track with its rollers,

and is held in its depressed position by the ratchet segments and the pawl. When the trip-frame is pushed rearward to drop the scoop, the brakes are simultaneously applied and sand is let out on the rails, so that the speed of the car is checked or stopped at the same time that the fender is dropped.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a noveland useful construction of a car-fender which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and in the above I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the character stated, a scoop, a guard hinged at its lower edge to the forward end of said scoop, springs connected to said guard and scoop and acting to normally return and retain the guard to and in an upright position, and a stop engaging the guard upon its forward side to allow the latter to be tilted rearward and to be held in its normal upright position andagainst forward movement.

2. In a device of the character stated, a scoop provided with ratchet segments at the inner ends of its side arms and adapted to be hinged at said ends to the body of a car, pivoted pawls engaging said ratchet segments, a rearwardly tiltable guard at the forward edge of the scoop, a plate adapted to be hinged beneath the car-body and formed with guides having rollers, and a trip-frame having a transverse trip-bar forward of the front edge of the scoop and having side-bars slidable in the guides of the plate and provided with laterally projecting rollers which engage beneath tongues upon the inner sides of the side arms of the scoop.

JOSEPH A. DEVITT.

Witnesses:

WM. SEOHER,

C. D. MoVAY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

